A Study in the Making

This is not at all a scientific study, though I may actually do one at some point. For now, though, this is just an observation based on an impression I’ve been getting.

Writing a daily blog has been an interesting experience for me. Some days I know exactly what I want to write about. Other days, I sit with my morning coffee staring at a blank screen and hoping words will type themselves. On days like that I do a Google news search for articles related to young people, looking for inspiration. This was the case this morning, and it was this morning that I started noticing something.

The majority of articles I find report on the bad things that young people do or have done to them. There is no shortage of youth violence, youth suicide, youth victims, youth-are-bad-or-sick articles. The next largest group is about things we want to do to or for young people. Youth-need-help or youth-need-restrictions (the current focus seems to be on limiting teen driving) are almost as plentiful as the bad-or-sick focus. Finally you see a smattering of good-kids-doing-good articles, which often come across as almost a patronizing exhibit of some “normal” teen behaving well.

Finally, and definitely in the minority, are the articles I’m really looking for; young people as resources and contributors, and here is where my observation comes in. Almost without exception, when I see an article about young people that presents them as intelligent participants in our world, the byline is from Australia, or the United Kingdom, or Canada, or Ireland, or even ‘third world’ places like Sri Lanka or African nations.

There seems to be a distinct difference between the presentation of youth and young people in the United States, and the presentation you see outside of the United States. From the perspective of an advocate for youth, the presentation here in the United States could really stand improvement. Young people seem to make the news mostly to be being pilloried, patronized, trivialized, or victimized, and only rarely to be presented as members of our society with valid perspectives and value to contribute. I don’t believe that young people in the United States are any less capable than those in other nations, but that’s not the impression you get from reading the news.